i see you! c'mon, get mister feather! look what i have. mister bird. remember? quack quack quack! we're just playing! we're just playing! i'm trying to get you out of there! even still... announcer: you don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. there are thousands of teens in foster care who don't need perfection, they need you. cliff thing happens. melissa francis is melissa: merry christmas eve, everyone. i'm melissa francis. first up tonight, a developing story almost every american is following right now.

north american aerospace defense commander norad is currently tracking santa's progress. so far st. nick delivered 2.3 billion gifts. he has a way to go. my little guys are waiting for their presents. joining me from norad for the latest update is captain jeff davis. i know you're so busy tracking santa tonight. anything he should look out for, any weather problems? anything that might slow him down. >> not at all. we're looking very carefully. looks like it will be smooth sailing for santa tonight as he delivers presents around the world. melissa: how is his progress so far? 2.3 billion, that is a lot of presents. let's not kid ourselves, he has a lot of ground to cover. >> he does. he is only a third of the way through his journey. we have him leaving down in the antarctica area, headed up towards madagascar. we're having him, looks like

he will be over the eastern part of the united states about 9:00 p.m. tonight. melissa: wow! where has he been so far? >> well so far he has covered all of asia. started off in the island of wake and moved over japan, china, russia, australia, new zealand, india and is making his way now up the east side of africa. melissa: that's great. so you don't see any weather problems later tonight into the morning? he should be able to make it back home safely because he will need a lot of rest? how does the rest of the evening look? >> no weather problems at all. santa always seems to find a way, but we're tracking him. we've got call center open here, 1-877-hi norad. we're tracking him and people talking to our staff here taking tens of thousands of calls. it's a good day so far. melissa: i know you're doing a lot of e-mail business too. captain davis, thanks for taking time to talk to us.

we appreciate it. >> thank you, and merry christmas. melissa: merry christmas to you. while santas his way across the globe let's look at market headlines because it was open after all. thin volume dominated today's shortened trading session. the dow fell 51 points. the fiscal cliff deadlock gave another jolt to the veer index for the vix. it is up 20% in four sessions. people are nervous. it has been a tough year for yahoo! shareholders but they're getting a early christmas gift from snead ham. the company upgrade the price on yahoo!'s stock to 26 bucks a share. yahoo! shares rose 1 1/2 on the news. it is the last day, several hours left to run to the mall to get gifts for people you forgot. maybe you're a bargain shopper hoping for a last minute deal. we have lauren with our fox affiliate, kttv in los angeles. she braced the christmas crowd at glendale galleria in california.

i should say the galleria. i'm from the valley. best i can do. thank you, thank you, i appreciate that. how packed is the mall? a lot of people there doing their last minute shopping? >> i got to tell you, either a lot of people pushed it to the wire this year or, they're just here for the great sales. either way retailers are counting on procrastinators to make up for a weaker than expected holiday shop season. here at the galleria, i'm told they're seeing record number of shoppers. there is no lack of shoppers here today on christmas eve. plenty of people hitting the malls to pick up last minute gifts, or, just things for themselves because the discounts are so great, they can't stay away. crowds over the weekend have been hitting the malls all across california and the west coast. that is because stores are staying open later. they're extending their hours and they're slashing prices t has been a gloomy holiday shopping season you know. superstorm sandy which

disrupted things along the east coast. we had the school shooting earlier this month. it has been a joyless shopping season. now this looming fiscal cliff a week away while consumer confidence is at its lowest level since july. retailers need to pull out the big guns to do everything they possibly can to lure shoppers into stores even now before last few hours of christmas eve. we're seeing prices slashed. 50% signs off everywhere. here at the galleria they may have seen a record number of shoppers but shoppertrak which takes a look at traffic over the holiday season, they have actually changed their forecast from 3.3 now down to 2.5. so we'll have to wait and see if this last minute weekend shopping has an effect at all on their bottom line. melissa: it will be interesting to see how final numbers come in although it looks very busy there i would not want to go to a mall today but i'm apparently alone in that. thanks very much, lauren. for anyone who has not

gotten a perfect gift for someone on the list there is still time to go to amazon and buy my book! i will shamelessly plug my book. "diary of a stage mother's daughter", not too late. amazon, barnes & noble, they all have it. it's a great read. i have my own here. i am shameless. what is on the christmas list besides my book i want santa to save the economy. whether what is happening in the glendale galleria is a good snapshot we could expect for overall numbers so can santa help us out? joining us peter morici, economist at university of maryland. thanks for coming on today to spend your christmas eve with us. what do you think of the holiday shopping season so far? will this be a big boost for the economy? will you see the revised numbers lower or not be as good as promised? >> we came into the holiday shopping season with guarded expectations owing to the fiscal cliff and the general condition of the economy and people did come out and did

buy the stuff. might not be as much as, prices might not be as high as retailers hoped but stuff will clear and probably have a pretty good final couple of days. so it is kind of a b-minus holiday season but, considering the kind of circumstances we're in, that's okay. melissa: yeah. there are people out there blaming the fiscal cliff. that seems ridiculous for, how could the fiscal cliff prevent you from going out to spend money on holiday shopping? i could see that elsewhere in the economy but seems silly for this particular comparison? >> think that is correct. people are, that is something in the future. that affected business spending but not consumers. consumer spending has been slower since the middle of the year. that was evident in the third quarter gdp report. it has been evident in the retail sales we tracked from month to month. simply wages haven't grown rapidly enough and the housing market although it has recovered, let's remember it recovered from a very low level and prices are still down quite a bit. there aren't that many sales.

the volumes aren't that big. melissa: online shopping is up 16% this year versus last year at $38.7 billion s that eating into the regular old brick-and-mortar sales or do you think that is real growth? >> that is real growth in that segment but it is eating into brick-and-mortar sales. a couple of years ago, in addition to best buy we had circuit city. they're gone now. i think we'll see more of that. shopping malls are being converted to other purposes as increasingly americans will shop from their living rooms. won't always be that way. i can't try on a suit that way very effectively but there are lots of things i can buy that way. i'm sure it is that way for you your viewers. melissa: i bought every single thing online today. i didn't go into a single store. i'm so proud of myself. it is so much easier. i wonder we saw the total number trimmed back from estimates to 2.3 from 3.5%. do you think that is even optimistic? i think 2.5% growth over

last year is optimistic give the pace of the economy right now? >> i don't because that is nominal growth. we've had some inflation and so forth. if we only got 2.5, that would be in line with inflation. maybe better. inflation hasn't been bad because of gas prices. i think we'll hit that. i'm homeful today will be a great day. melissa: what about that? have gas priced helped? we've seen them steadily growing down the past few months. the only problem is the highest point since christmas. >> at risk of aging myself i was present when the first shopping centers were going up. melissa: how is that possible? >> i was back there. the first ones were in the outskirts of new york city. when i was a small boy would ride the subway into manhattan and do our christmas shopping even though we lived in the suburbs that way. in those days the big day was today. they would stay open until midnight that day. this was the black friday. maybe we're getting that back this year because, people are so busy and they

didn't have time to do everything they wanted on black friday. looks like today will be a good day. melissa: my dad would tell me stories they would wait until the day after christmas and buy the presents then because that is when the real sales were on. will we see deep discounts after christmas and are people waiting for that? >> i think we're seeing big discounsel. i bought a wide screen tv and it is already 200 bucks cheaper. i wish i had waited. melissa: that is painful. make take the receipt back and get it adjusted? >> i will live with it. melissa: you will live with it. on scale of money how great do you think the christmas would be, if we had santa judging one to money? >> considering it is 2012 and not 2007, and we came in with guarded expectations a three. melissa: you will give it a three? not bad. >> it is christmas eve! it is christmas eve eve! people want good news, melissa. melissa: you give eight three. >> yeah. melissa: peter morici, thanks very much.

>> take care. melissa: time for today's fuel gauge report. natural gas prices tumbled. fresh forecasts see mild weather ahead for early january, lowering outlook for natural gas demand. chevron taking a big step into canadian natural gas. they're taking a step into a natural gas project from two canadian firms. it will by 50% stake in 644,000 acres of oil and gas rights from apache in british columbia. good news for drivers hitting the road this christmas. gas has fallen to the lowest level in a year according to a new lundberg survey. average price of a gallon is $3.26. that is down 58 cents in 11 weeks. next on "money", congress as usual has its priorities straight. we're bracing ourselves to go flying off the news call cliff just as some powerful members of congress are pushing for a minimum wage hike. plus the fda gives a green light to genetically modified fish. they could soon be in your

local grocery store. they have no idea that you're even buying one. we'll explain that coming up. ♪ . oming up. ♪ ally bank. why they have a raise your rate cd. tonight our guest, thomas sargent. nobel laureate in economics, and one of the most cited economists in the world. professor sargent, can you tell me what cd rates will be in two years? no. if he can't, no one can. that's why ally has a raise your rate cd. ally bank. your money needs an ally. ♪ many hot dogs are within you. try pepto-bismol to-go, it's the power of pepto, but it fits in your pocket. now tell the world daniel... of pepto-bismol to-go.

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♪ . melissa: it is a great wage debate. minimum wage hikes set for 10 states in two cities starting on january 1st. while efforts in congress and several other states are trying to push through increases in the new year, some say raising the minimum wage can have a downside for already struggling local con must haves. here with me is one of them, jonathan hoenig with, oh, my goodness. fox news contributor. jonathan. >> merry christmas. melissa: wow! you sort of gift wrapped yourself for our show. i hope you have pants on under there. are you wearing clothes on under there? >> i'm wearing clothes. they're all full of your book. i've done my christmas shopping. >> fantastic. >> happy to talk about the minimum wage. you're right, it destroys jobs. it kills the economy. it hurts the low-skilled workers that proponents of a higher minimum wage often seek to specifically protect. advocates of higher minimum

wage, wages are arbitrary that employers pick a number out of a has. it is based on supply and demand. melissa: everything you're saying makes so much sense though really hard to take what you're saying seriously as your head is jutting up through a giant box. did you catch a cab there? >> war on christmas, people, come on. melissa: okay. let's, let's try to talk about this anyway. you know, some people make the argument if you pay workers more, that they will spend more and that it will fuel the economy. that is always the first thing that you hear out of people's mouths when making this debate. >> right. melissa: do you buy that? >> that is the old keynesian, that is essentially "cash for clunkers". it is all the stimulus programs. it is a failed notion, melissa, if you give people money to spend that will create more wealth. it hasn't worked with any quote, stimulus programs. spending money doesn't create more of it. we need more investment. we need more jobs.

higher minimum wage, proponents would rather somebody not making 6 bucks a an hour washing dishes than have them no job or having a quote, low-paying jobs. it hurts wealth creation for all especially those on the bottom rung with relatively no skills. melissa: i would make the argument the money to pay people more doesn't come from a mon -- money tree. comes from inside the company. if you pay each more it remains higher fewer. the response, corporations are setting on record profits right now. they're not investing. you say they need to invest. they have all this cash. why not force them to pay workers more, giant present. >> melissa, the cost of hiring a worker when you account fica and social security and regulatory costs is 1.5 times their actual salary. so, made employing someone in this country so difficult. you think back to how the great innovators started. steve jobs and walked in to ask bill hewlett for a job

there wasn't this regulatory monster that makes it so difficult and more expensive to hire people. of course minimum wage is a big part of it. that is also immoral too. if people want to work for five or six bucks an hour it is their right to do it and employer's right to provide it. melissa: let me ask you, only thing they can do is raise prices, companies in order to pay people more money. people said, if you go into best buy or wherever, people don't mind paying more if they know the reason they're paying more so the workers have a living wage. what is your response to that, giant present? >> i don't think, i think living wage is actually kind of a load term. it is used as justification for this massive regulatory state that essentially kills job creation especially on the low end. and i mean, i think, you know consumers would certainly buy from someplace if they felt like they were

getting value for their money but i don't think it is their job to make that decision nor is it the government's job to say what is fair wage or not. it is between employers and employees. that is a fair trade. that is what a job is. melissa: i love bracing and celebrating christmas, very pro-christmas amidst the war on christmas. what was your thought process i will get into giant box and wrap it up and randomly wear it on television? we had no warning you were doing this at all. this was a complete surprise to me. >> christmas is wonderful holiday melissa. there is so much to sell operate. man's mind created so much wealth. a lot of presents will be open tomorrow morning. a wonderful time to step back and appreciate this terrific country and culture we live in. melissa: jonathan, i love you very much. they're telling me to wrap you, no pun intended. thank you so much. oh, he is gone. i hope he is not naked underneath that giant box, don't you? coming up on "money", fish for christmas eve is tradition for some. how does a nice fillet of

fish sound to you? genetically mutated fish get the okay from the fda. don't count on the grocer to let you know you're eating one. that story coming up yet. >> plus fearless feel like's giant jump, to presidential pizza preferences we have the worst marketing stunts of the year. do you have ever have much money or too many guests wrapped as presents? ♪ . [ male announcer ] you are a business pro.

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>> at 4:00 this morning, two intruders broke into the home of 83-year-old woman and demanded to give them cash.

♪ . melissa: so look out, everyone. franken fish could be coming to a market near you. the food and drug administration is one step closer to give the first again net i canly modified

animal to be eaten. it grows twice as fast as normal fish and has extra chromosomes and apparently just as healthy as the natural guys. doesn't cause any harm to the environment. if you think super salmon is hard to swallow it gets worse. you might not know if you're eating it. to find out if it is worth the money, let's bring in dr. mitchell brooks. dr. brooks, thank for coming on the show. >> you're welcome. melissa: thanks for coming on christmas eve. are you comfortable with this. >> certainly. melissa: why? it feels creepy to the average person when you, it is a genetically modified fish. it has three chromosomes. there is just, something about it that makes me very nervous for potential harm down the road? >> i think it's the visual that you get of it. the word mutated, genetically mutated fish. how about genetically improved fish? the fish is larger. it can be produced faster

and environmentally friendly manner. it has been proven to be safe by the fda to the one can trust a governmental agency and there is no harm from it. we're going to have a world shortage of food. we have a decrease in the amount of arabable areas. growing areas. we have increase in population and climate change. every day we're flooded with pictures from the sudan and somalia hungry. here is a chance to feed them. and we already eat genetically-mutated, quote, unquote, food. wheat has been altered genetically so it can be grown in countries all irv the world. it has saved hundreds of thousands, millions of lives. >> hear you. let me stop you and go back a little bit. you said to the extent you can trust a government agency. you put the caveat in. you don't trust what the fda says? >> no, i do. i think basically for the, for the conspiracy theorists out there i suppose i put that in.

these folks do a good job and they have been charged with our safety. so they have done the study, they have done the research and they believe it is safe. melissa: do you think they have done enough research over time? this strikes me as one of those things that comes back years later, the same way things leaching off plastic putting into the microwave. things considered safe for a long period of time and then they go back and say oops. that wasn't the case. you feel confident this wouldn't be one those? >> reasonably confident, yes, within the realm of probability, yeah. i mean this has been going on for over 10 years now and so i think within the realm of probability it's safe. is it possible something will happen? sure, absolutely. but i think you have to weigh the benefits against the side-effects. the other issue that should be mentioned, as we move forward is, the ethical and moral issue of genetically altering things. melissa: before we get into that, i want to think about

the idea you may not even know what you're getting. this is what we're saying since the beginning of the show, but if the fda says it is save it could be sold as salmon and there is chance you could go out and buy it and eat it and not even know. maybe you choose not to eat it to not want to take a risk down the road but if the fda says it is okay i could eat it without knowing it, right? >> if that is the way they will merchandise it, yes but i don't agree with that. i think you need to inform the public this is genetically improved, altered, mutated, whatever word you want to use, salmon. like anything else if it is said to be safe and priced competent it tiffly people will -- competitively, people will eat it. we have to increase productivity of foodstuffs. we're in the trouble in the future. melissa: we put up on thes that there are a lot of things that have been genetically enhanced. a lot of people like watermelon from monsanto that are seedless.

many vegetables have been changed. this is the first animal. this is what makes people uneasy. >> creepy. melissa: creepy, thank you. thanks for coming on. >> merry christmas to you. melissa: up next, going from "gagnam style" genius to che guevara stupidity we give our 2012 cheers and years to the masterminds ever marketing. >> she exchanged running shoes for stilettos. a former u.s. olympian turn as high-priced hooker. the revelation is exposes a business that is virtually untouched by the law. "piles of money" coming up. ♪ . up. ♪

i look up to a lot of the older heads, you know, the innovators, the heads of the art movements of the past. they kept it really edgy, and, like, a lot of the latin american muralists and the latin american artists, their styles are very unique and new to their time, you know, somewhat controversial, but that's who i look up to mainly. personally, i'm very excited about going to college. it's something new, and it's something different than what i'm used to. i'm definitely going to be a little out of my element, but that's what makes it so exciting is that, you know, it's something fresh.

well, there's so many opportunities that i think i could miss out on if i didn't go, you know. getting into college takes planning and vision. you know, it's just like when i take a brick wall and turn it into a canvas for my art. painting's helped me realize i've got what it takes. ♪ music body language can tell you all sorts of things.

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♪ . melissa: he is making good progress, right? who could another get fearless felix who broke the sound barrier wearing a red bull logo. he set the record for the highest parachute jump and he lived. it was the perfect recipe for success. there were a bunch of winners and a bunch of losers in the marketing machine too. joining me to recap the highs and lows, my favorite marketing expert.

bruce turk kel. >> hi, melissa, thanks. melissa: the number one you picked was not the red bull space jump. you like psy, gang nam style. why was that marketing genius? >> here is what he did. this guy from south korea, became the number one viewed video on all of youtube, ever, a billion views. that is 1,000 million. that is not 1,000 people watching it a million times. he has create ad brand like nobody has yet. but i think the think the important thing he is harbinger of things to come. what this is telling us, that democratization of social media and media in general, means that the next great star might not be from the u.s. might not be from the u.k. might might be anywhere. melissa: it is hysterical. everyone has done it. it is so over at this point. it is great marketing for what he made off it. but a little flash in the pan for you?

>> we'll wait and see. that might have been his 15 minutes or 15 seconds of fame. i don't know. what i do know he showed everyone what to do and how to do it. put on a stupid outfit, stupid haircut and make foolish moves and even the president will imitate you. melissa: absolutely. move onto the red bull space jump. that was number two. i thought that was the best marketing move of the year. that was very brave. we talked about this before. if he jumped and died i don't know if that would have been great for red bull. you disagree, you think either way it was a win for red bull. >> if he had jumped and died it would have blown up bigger than that. all the kids reading drinking the product would have loved if his eyeballs had exploded and did something terrible. melissa: oh. >> they created their own media. got nine million live view, from a point of planet, executed pay for it do it was actually number one. for metrics it came in as

number two. melissa: interesting. number three was c and a in brazil. they facebook likes on their hangars in stores. i hope we have picture for people to see it when. you go in the store looking at clothing it has on the hanger a digital read how many other people liked whatever the piece of clothing is which i think is ridiculous. am i so dependent on other people's opinions i will only buy a dress if other people like it. to me this is loser but you liked it. >> well, let's face it. you're not the typical consumer. you're a superstar. you're beautiful. on national tv. melissa: please, don't stop. >> as so many shoppers. melissa: you would be surprised. >> we can talk about that afterwards. think about most shoppers. this thing is brilliant. when the agency came up with the idea, you got to know there were lots of operations people who were saying really? you think we'll do that? these were active windows on the hangers that wirelessly received the likes as facebook likes were being tallied. a woman would take a piece

of clothing off the rack and tell people how many people would like it. they were getting a dhous likes an hour. -- a thousand. they got almost nine million impressions. not only worked for insecure shoppers but think about what it did for the husbands and boyfriends. no longer do we get the unanswered question, honey, do these jeans make me look fat. we know what people thought. melissa: i thought you were saying the husband shopping in their own window and this is popular item a. that is so much more fun pizza hut elections questions and tried to get people to stand up at the debate and ask whether we like pepperoni or cheese, right? was that it, pepperoni or sausage? i can't remember what the question was. >> right. melissa: go ahead. >> they wanted somebody to actually stand up in the town hall debate between the president and governor before the election and when they got to ask a question to ask, do you prefer your pizza with sausage or pepperoni? think about it, not only

what a boneheaded move that was, but think how incredibly disrespectful it is but what of the two guys up there. melissa: they polled it before it actually happened. and pulled but give them credit for pulling out that one. mercedes-benz using che guevara, what is the deal with that. >> this is hard to believe. they used che guevara in the presentation. on the beaney instead after red star, they had a mercedes logo. i know what happened. a '20s art director only time seen chair was on a rave. if we want to say we're revolutionary, let's use a revolutionary. not like they used somebody from the french revolution. this is from bygone era that just happened. this is really stupid move of the as you know mercedes moved it and apologized. that says everything. melissa: very last on your list, samsung galaxy 3. what was their marketing campaign you thought was

bonehead? >> this is unbelievable. did a campaign, where dad is leaving on a trip. mom bumps mom's phone to leave video soccer game. then she bumps the phone again saying this is special video from me. samsung selling texting. it gets worse. then they did an ad with santa and mrs. claus where she sends, mrs. claus sends santa a dirty video on their samsung galaxies. now only have to explain to my kids there is no santa claus but before santa claus didn't exist he was watching porn on a phone? come on, really? that is the best they can do? melissa: yeah. that is not good. i saw the first ad of the two you're talking about. i thought it was kind of funny. then i didn't have to explain it to anyone. there you go. >> that's right. melissa: bruce, happy holidays to you. thanks for coming on. that was fun. >> happy holidays, melissa, thanks very much.

melissa: here is the question of the day. what do you think is the best marketing stunt of the year? i think the silliest one was the hangers with the facebook likes. but bruce disagrees with me so let me know. like us at facebook.co facebook.com/melissafrancisfox or follow me on twitter @melissaafrancis. from tracks to tricks, a former olympian turns $600 an hour prostitute. the thriving world of illegal online business is exposed. details how many of them are getting away with it. i always wonder, how many people are getting away with all this? piles of money and tips on that coming up. hat coming up. ♪ i'

want to know what i did in the last five hours? i played a round of golf. then i read a book while teaching myself how to play guitar; ran ten miles while knitting myself a sweater; jumped out of a plane. finally, i became a ping pong master while recording my debut album. how you ask? with 5-hour energy. i get hours of energy now -- no crash later. wait to see the next five hours.

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[kids talking at once] [speaking foreign language] [heart beating] [heartbeat continues] [faint singing] [heartbeat, music pying louder] ♪ i'm feeling better since you know me ♪ ♪ i was a lonely soul, but that's the old me... ♪ announcer: this song was created with heartbeats of children in need. find out how it can help frontline health workers bring hope to millions of children at everybeatmatters.org.

♪ melissa: from winning titles to turning tricks, one former olympic track star takes a very unusual turn. suzie favor hamilton is three-time olympic competitor from one of the most decorated athletes in u.s. olympic history. she recently confessed about her call girl career. i don't get it. there were pictures of her posted on internet for anyone to see.

prostitution is illegal. how can someone be operating an illegal website and not get caught? joining me is former sex crimes attorney, anita kay, along with attorney joey jackson. thanks to both of you for joining me. >> a pleasure. melissa: anita, i will start with you. this is my question when the whole thing came out, how are all these businesses righting illegal businesses operating scott-free on the internet? this site would have never been taken down, this business would have never been closed had she not revealed to someone she was this famous individual, the smoking gun website went and blew it all up so everyone knew who it was. suddenly became a huge news story. that is what shut down this online prostitution business. had it not been for they could have been operating forever. why is it so easy to run an illegal business on the internet? >> the problem is, monitoring, tracking and catching people who are actually doing it, melissa. it is so easy, especially for it type of business, escort call girl, to set up web sites. they're constantly changing.

the only way law enforcement and prosecutors actually get involved is usually when something comes to light such as this. or, what i often found was it would be children. children would get picked up and they were being exploited in human trafficking. police will go undercover and do sting operations and thinks like that. that is how they track the people down. melissa: yeah. >> a lot of people manning the website, they don't know. they're not the major players. melissa: joey, let me ask you because this whole business basically depends on repeat play. i mean she was ranked on a website where they were talking about what she was like on this date and that. all the information was there for anyone to get. they were going back to this website which has now down to set updates with her over and over again. why couldn't police -- if i were someone working in this business i could be terrified getting caught. they're not. and a lot of other problems too. that one of my concerns. >> absolutely, there are a number of things associated with this. and this speaks to a larger

issue in general. whenever you look at internet, melissa, you're looking at www., what does that mean? it is the worldwide web. it is international in nature. so it is international problem. the second problem is a coordination problem between all the countries that have the web. finally you have to look at regulations that are involved. people operate in this environment, you're talking about an international business. now, the analogy i can give you, the fd . a, right, food and drug administration, they crack down on drugs that were illegal. you know what it took, melissa? it took getting interpol involved which is the international police agency and 24 countries and came together and busted this ring of illegal operators who had medicine. when you're operating in a environment that is so vast it prime ministers problematic. melissa: i hear you on international basis. anita, this is domestic operation. look at things buying counterfeit goods online and fancy handbags and designer handbags, made in the u.s., sent from addresses here in

the u.s. to people buy being counterfeit good. that is obviously illegal. it is set up as a shop for a long time. doing transactions through a credit card. mailing from where they are. if anyone wants to enforce the law seems like it would be really easy. do police not care about illegal businesses online? >> not, at all, melissa. police do care but the problem is resources. these enterprises it takes nothing to start and stop and start up again for these businesses t takes so many man-hours, police hours to find and track these people. the thing is there is no hayley. hayley is a fake person. you don't want the prostitutes. you don't want the johns. you want the pimps that are actually setting these businesses up that are doing far more than just having adult prostitutes because it all stems from human trafficking. there is so much that goes beyond what we're seeing with suzie favor hamilton.

takes so many man-hours. melissa: so hard to make a buck in the u.s. they're taxing the hell out of anyone who dares to go make money. maybe i should start an illegal business. advise me as my criminal defense attorney, can you please advise me i will sell fake gucci bags online in the new year. don't tell anyone. >> you would keep it legit and wonderful person you are. melissa: but there are no penalties. >> takes five minute to develop an llc. melissa: right. >> you have a limited liability company you can develop online. takes five minutes to do that. what you need to do in regulatory fashion police have to monitor it better therefore they can coordinate with each other, to crack it down and break it down to prevent people selling what every it is. whether personal services as here. whether it is handbags or anything else that is inappropriate, illegal unlawful. melissa: is the bottom line people should be worried about running illegal businesses online? i'm not totally convinced? >> i have to tell you it is online business you have much better probability

thriving in it, doing it, becoming an entrepreneur succeeding than if you opened up a shop anyone could see out here. it's a big problem. melissa: anita, give emuir advice, should i start be a illegal business online in the new year? >> no. melissa, where i practice in california with the ports here there are a lot of task forces that actually do crack down on counterfeit handbags, counterfeit shoes, all the type of things being sold over the internet and in storefronts. it is a big business here in california and there are special task forces. but like i said, that costs money. melissa: yeah. >> to prosecute, a the lot of witnesses are out-of-state. when i was a prosecutor it is hard to get people out-of-state to come in and testify. melissa: you guys convinced me. i guess i won't do it after all. i love my job anyway. i was going to do this on the side maybe because it seemed like selling fake knock-off bags would be easy but never mind. >> no, you want the original. >> merry christmas. melissa: good point. mistletoe is not just a

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lissa: he all melissa: we are joined by monica crowley and adam shapiro for our section on "spare change."join let's see what santa claus has to say. joining us from norad is charles scky. how is santa claus doing? is he keeping on schedule?o >> so far he has left the ukraine.as that was her last night. but we have had a couple of nora issues losingl, headwinds, he hs had to refuel the reindeer more than normal. but other than that it has been textbook. melissa: right on schedule.

are you surprised? >> he's been doing this are very long time. has it down to an art and science. those reindeer boss tells, they bust tales. >> i put them on my radio show. my favorite segments of the entire year. remember, two weeks ago they identified that north korean missile during that missile test now in addition to keeping a safe, they can spy on santa. melissa: what do you have to contribute? >> went in town car. absolutely the koreans or the weather problems. it went well. melissa: thank you for tht one. moving on to mistletoe. not only a good excuse to kiss during the holidays, but a long history of medicinal uses in europe. used for everything from headaches to cancer, supposedly

enhae the immune functioning. which really is not -- what do you think? >> if it works and why not. a lot. so maybe we should be legalizing all of it. melissa: over centuries mistletoe has been used as a cure all and kind of like a folk remedy, but sometimes when you hear about old-time folk remedies that iran might use are recommended, they are the best things for what ails you. now they are doingserious sear. melissa: it could be just the kissing that is helping. have we isolated it from the mistletoe? >> the new leaders of the germans took the fun out of it. there were feeding its people. melissa: i see. thank you for clean that up. the national dual log. blaze for more than 50 years. this year the layout of the holiday display was in serious -- mysteriously changed. there was a chance the fire will be rekindled next year.

what do you think about this? >> such a bummer. such a huge holiday tradition for so many people who go down to washington and take a look at the white house and might visit their member of congress. they give see this. by the way, those of us in new york and elsewhere have had the televise yule log. by the way, yes, i am looking forward to that. but actually extinguish the real national you log is really a bummer. they say it may come back. melissa: a lot of complaints that they used trees are dangerous. >> they always did it. melissa: in the complaint you could make, but now it is mysteriously gone. >> there will have to be subject to the carbon tax. melissa: moving on to new year's. the gigantic number 13 that will be part of the live up